Arctic Magic
Arctic Magic (北極魔法, Hokkyoku Mahō) is a considerably powerful magic and one of the few powers that has a vast influence over the natural forces, something that humankind has been wanting for many generations to prove their superiority over all things in . Much to the contrary belief, this magic is one of the "new era", thus there's little information pertaining to this magic aside from here say from dubious sources and mere glimpses on rare accounts, even by the likes of the Magic Council, who has recordings of all types of magic known to Ishgar — going from the earliest stages of man to now. Going by its casting methods, this is a form of Caster Magic and quite obviously, a form of Subspecies Magic — derived from one of the various elements utilized by mages, specifically, ice. Going by the name alone, it can be assumed that the magic allows the user to invoke a power that can be accurately described as "Ice Magic beyond the standard Ice Magic" — something that can only be found in nature itself; this alone affirms the aforementioned statement that the magic's influence over nature to some degree. It's later confirmed that Arctic Magic also invokes the principles of Enchantment — one of the most basic, yet powerful fighting styles known to mages, thus solidifies the reason behind the magic's absurd amounts of power and versatility. Confirming its status as a "modern magic", it's later revealed that its creator and only user is Suoh Aogami — one of the various magical prodigies in all of Earthland, well-known for his absolute mastery over the lightning element. It's considered to be one of the many magical skills in his repertoire, serving as his second line of offense, adding on to his fearsome reputation as a powerful fighter in his own right in lieu of his youthfulness. Overview It's a well-known fact that the regions of the world are considered to be the coldest regions to-date, having very low temperatures, which at times can be in the negatives; this makes it nearly impossible for most forms of life to inhabit it, as the extreme thermal energies of such an area would cause instant death lest the organism in-question adapts to such degrees over the course of many millennia. Known for its prolonged winters and nights, the arctic is as its sounds — an area that's naturally covered in snow and ice. No matter what world that a person may live in, fantasy or otherwise, the concept of the arctic will remain the same with no definite change its nature. For its very meaning to change would embody chaos descending unto the world itself, defying all common sense in terms of the word "arctic". When Suoh traversed the world in his younger years to both hone his magical talents under the guidance of many masters who had some connection to the upper echelon of the Magic Council and have a major attitude adjustment by learning to appreciate the various wonders Earthland had to offer him and everyone else, he was inspired by the wintry lands of Iceberg — seeing how the harshness of the cold subjugates all that's within its domain without question, something that reflects his way of fighting — seeking to impose his authority on those that dare challenge him through absolute brute force and sheer skill, and establishing his position as the "alpha" of the combatants. Suoh was always a bright individual barring his somewhat rotten, destructive, condescending, and arrogant personage for one of his age; upon studying the geothermal fluctuations of northern regions of Iceberg, he was able to accurately formulate a method to converting such natural forces into a magical power he could wield freely and fiercely, much like his electrokinetic powers. Though it took a total of four years to complete, as he also had to factor in its effects on other environments upon usage, those who could possibly overcome the magic for a myriad of reasons, the amount of magical power needed to cast it, and other things of a similar nature, Suoh was able to utilize a power that surpassed the most basic forms of magic and something that nearly rivaled the infamous Storm Magic — another magic he's utilized years later upon assimilating with his infamous armor and having his electrokinetic powers ascend to the highest levels imaginable. He was able to "chill out" his opponents, preventing them from lifting a finger against his countenance. As the cold he unleashed perfectly matched the wintry regions from where the magic derived, it was only suitable that he referred to it by its given name: Arctic Magic. As the naming of the magic would imply, Suoh is able to call upon the chills of the arctic region of the world with the simplest motions — freezing anything and everything that dared defy his very presence. While the methods of casting the magic are only known to Suoh's person, he does hint that it involves the art of enchantment, something he learned from one of his mentors who happens to be one of the few "High Enchanters" ( Hai Enchantā; lit. "Highest Ranking Annexing Technique User"), in all of Earthland; this would mean that Suoh is effectively imposing his will and magical aura onto the environment and forcibly changing the thermal structures to match that of the northern regions. Evidence of such an occurrence is the sudden lowering of temperatures in the area and the flow of the wind becoming prominent; to an extent, the way Suoh casts this magic is similar to the method invoked by the in canon, as he imposes cold — which is the essence of ice, rather than the ice itself, something done by other ice-based mages. This shows off his craft in the ice element, nearly equating his insurmountable skill in the lightning element. One of the most important factors that makes Suoh's magic much different than natural wielders of the ice element is that it utilizes the concept of " " (絶対零度, Zettai Reidō), something that's naturally impossible by the laws of thermodynamics and considered to be the echelon of all cryokinetic abilities known to every mage and fighter. By definition, absolute zero is defined as lower limit of the thermodynamic temperature scale, a state at which the enthalpy and entropy of a cooled ideal gas reaches its minimum value—numbers-wise, Absolute Zero is said to be −273.15° Celsius as universally agreed upon. While ice mages are able to lower the temperature of their cryokinetic magical skills and techniques upon a whim, a true master of ice is able to achieve such a feat when they fully understand the depths of ice and all that it embodies; while the exact interpretation varies from user to user, it's noted that it takes many years to reach such a precipice, even for natural-born users. The fact that Suoh was able to reach such a peak in a matter of a four years, and at a young age to boot, exemplifies both his his genius-level intellect and magical talents even further. He stated that the art of enchantment is rather critical at achieving such a phenomenon, as it basically imposes one's will and magical power unto the natural world, shifting it in any way they see fit as aforementioned. Thus, Suoh used the vast and flexible powers of enchantment to forcibly "break" the limitations of the cold in the standard Ice Magic to achieve such temperatures, transforming it into its current state. Normally, this took much magical power out of him upon initial employment, but after steadying getting used to the magic, he was able to control the energy output — allowing him to employ the magic more frequently whilst maintaining its current level of power and versatility. Through the usage of this magic, Suoh is considered to be one of the most powerful ice mages in the modern era, even though his skills in electrokinesis far eclipses his cryokinetic capabilities. When this magic is employed, Suoh simply exerts his magical power unto the environment and rapidly decreases the temperatures to an appropriate level where this magic can make itself known; as the process is rather instantaneous due to Suoh's complete understanding and mastery over said magic, it's rather impossible to stop by any means — even for the most seasoned of mages. Like a conductor skillfully commanding the orchestra to accurately replicate the elegant of symphonies, Suoh directs the frigid air and magical particles in the environment in massive quantities, transforming it into a force equivalent to an avalanche and directing it in the vicinity of those he deems as a target. Upon contact, said target will be covered in an azure and pure white thick sheet of ice with such algidity that it imposes the phenomenon — preventing any affected part from moving completely, as the very molecules themselves have stopped their current motions and entered a perpetually stagnated state. It's possible to entrap victims in a coffin of ice, turning them into living ice statues that decorate the battlefield and serve as reminders of why Suoh is never to be challenged. This eventually leads to another phenomenon referred to as "Ice Erosion" (氷蝕, Hishoku), which means that the very same sheet of ice is capable of breaking down all material it encases in a manner similar to both Crash and Destruction Magic, utterly reducing it to innumerable fragments of its former self. Suoh's prowess with this magic is such that it it doesn't only affect organic matter, but anything he deems as a "susceptible element"; this means that Arctic Magic can affect other magical skills and techniques, cancelling them outright — even if its of the same type or functionality, different forms of energy — dispersing them at the root, and to a certain degree — the conceptual realm, clear examples being freezing the space or time around an atmosphere, preventing that specific area from being affected, or freezing one's emotions and thought processes, turning them into a shell of their former selves that they can manipulate freely, not unlike another cryokinetic magic. The sheets of ice formed through this magic are incredibly hard, so much so that its constitution has been equated to and even diamond at times, mainly because the solidity mainly comes from the compact mixture of natural and magical energies contain within, which also gives it the current coloration. Thus, it cannot be broken through by normal means, even when used in excessive amounts of force. The magic is so powerful that Suoh stated that because he's manipulating the essence of ice itself to its highest degree possible, he forgoes the need to implement other magics like Molding Magic or a member of the Black Arts into its being altogether, as such an action will merely "dilute" its insurmountable power. As aforementioned earlier, the magic has the capabilities of affecting the environment the longer its used; this is in-part to its employment of natural energy alongside magical energy. One of the most notable events associated with the arctic, and by extension — this magic, is the formation of an , one of the most beautiful phenomena in the entire world. By definition, an aurora borealis is a natural light display in the sky, predominantly seen in the high latitude artic regions. Scientifically-speaking, auroras are produced when the magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in both solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere), where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying color and complexity. In magical terms, this happens when discharge of magical and natural energies of each blow unleashed through this magic interacts with the various molecules in the sky, invoking the same process in which their energy is lost effectively resulting in ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emitting light of varying color and complexity. Due to the amount of energy that Arctic Magic consumes, the aurora borealis this magic produces as an aftereffect is unusually potent — so much so that it effectively illuminates the surroundings, temporarily outshining all other forms of light within the vicinity, magical or otherwise. It also has the effect of temporarily dispelling shadows due to said photokinetic intensity and various spells and techniques because of discharge of said energies still lingering in the atmosphere, causing them emit frequencies that interfere with certain magical functions, similar to certain EM waves. In a sense, while beautiful, it's rather detrimental to mages and those reliant on magic, acting as a form of Nullification Magic or Dispel. Another side-effect of this magic's constant usage is the area's temperature will slowly stay the same due to the extreme shift in thermal energies upon casting and the amount of energy used to maintain such a state. While the aurora wears off after a short while, the lingering cold can be become permanent if the magic is used many times; this often leads to a degree of terra-freezing, causing environmental instability. As Suoh is aware of such a danger, as even he's not that much of a douche to cause the entire populace to suffer, he often restricts the time he freely employs the magic as to not bring on such a drastic change. Regardless, his usage of Arctic Magic affords him another line of offensive that he can abuse to his content, putting his opponents "on ice" — both figuratively and quite literally. Trivia *This magic originally belonged to Raze, but the author decided to take it over and re-work it with Per's permission due to some ideas he had for the magic, deriving from the personally reduxed Storm Magic. To some degree, some information from this article is derived from Per's version of Ice Devil Slayer Magic, notoriously used by Annarose Antoinette of the Nine Elementals. This is due said article being close to what the author has imagined for this one. Category:Magic and Abilities Category:Caster Magic Category:Ice Magic Category:Subspecies Magic Category:Elemental Magic Category:Enchantment Category:Olphion Completed Gallery